Autobiographies give us a privileged glimpse into remarkable human experiences, and whether their authors recount painful personal trials or chronicle their remarkable self-discoveries, these books make for engaging reading. That’s especially true when those authors are deified celebrities and powerful public figures—the kinds of people whose lives are so remarkable that they’re often stranger than fiction.
This year started out with a bang when it came to releases of new celebrity biographies and autobiographies—with works by the legendary RuPaul, artist Ai Weiwei and Blondie’s Chris Stein, among others—and 2024 isn’t over yet. Autumn will bring with it new real-life tales recounted by the famous, rich and powerful. Single-name stars like Cher and Kenny G are finally going on the record, trailblazers in their industries like Connie Chung and Al Pacino are baring all and the calendar of new celebrity memoirs is full of hotly anticipated titles.
Take your pick from our list of the best celebrity memoirs, and then take a vicarious journey with some of the world’s most fascinating people.
Cher: The Memoir, Part One by Cher
If Barbra Streisand insisted on a 900-page tome about her life, Cher has done one better: a two-volume epic. The first installment, Cher: The Memoir, Part One, will see the enduring “Goddess of Pop” recount the first decades of her early life, relationship with Sonny Bono and solo career beginnings—one that started in the early 1960s and shows no signs of slowing down. With a single-name moniker, Cher (or “Cherilyn”) always knew she was destined for the stratosphere, even if a chaotic upbringing and challenging relationship with her mother threatened to hamper those dreams. There are countless superlatives that surround the star—from remaining the only woman to top the Billboard charts in seven consecutive decades to one of the few elite artists to nab an EGOT—so it’s unsurprising Cher has chosen to break the mold and deliver a two-part autobiography. Part Two will reportedly follow in 2025.
Sonny Boy: A Memoir by Al Pacino
A master of “the Method,” Al Pacino looks back on an unrivaled career portraying men battling masculinity at the margins. In Sonny Boy, the 83-year-old actor recounts a life portraying men on screen corrupted by power and undone by their manhood in this deeply candid book. “My whole life has been a moonshot, and I’ve been a pretty lucky guy so far,” Pacino has said. The work goes beyond Pacino’s famed performances—from acclaimed ones in The Godfather II and Dog Day Afternoon—to examine his relationship to the mystical craft. There are his bohemian beginnings in New York’s avant-garde theater scene (while staving off poverty) to studying in his 20s before stardom beckoned. From his rough beginnings running around the streets of the South Bronx to achieving fabled heights of glory in Hollywood, following along with the remarkable seven-decade life well lived retold here is like walking with him for the journey. Sonny Boy will be a potent read by a master craftsman.
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The Wall of Life by Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine, one of the last remaining stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, arrives with a visual memoir that pairs unseen photographs with intimate stories from her 70-plus-year career. The Academy Award-winner has long been a prolific memoirist, with several autobiographies about her life in Hollywood and New Age spirituality (including sharing her thoughts on the afterlife), already published. The idea of The Wall of Life was started after thinking about a photo montage MacLaine had set up in her living room—of family, friends and people she had known or worked with—that the actress wanted to do after her 90th birthday. From early childhood years with brother Warren Beatty, to the backstory behind meetings with the likes of Bette Davis and the Dalai Lama, the memoir is a photographic addendum to a fabled life and lauded star of the silver screen who isn’t done yet—MacLaine is due to shoot a new film in Georgia soon at 90.
From Under the Truck by Josh Brolin
Actor Josh Brolin’s autobiography, From Under the Truck, is apparently a “decidedly un-celebrity memoir.” The star of No Country for Old Men, Milk and, more recently, the new Dune films, Brolin promises to shed his Hollywood aura and deliver a gritty retelling of his life. It’s one that began in Paso Robles, California, where he had an “unconventional” childhood surrounded by wild animals attracted by his mother, Jane Agee Brolin. Addiction, alcohol abuse and the harsh glare of the public spotlight are given equal exposure here, with Brolin giving readers insights into how these pains and battles shaped his life. Brolin, already an author thanks to his contributions to the recent Dune tribute book, has a natural talent for the written word, so From Under the Truck promises baring stories alongside luminescent prose. Reportedly only two people have read the manuscript—with friend and director Ethan Coen being one.
Connie: A Memoir by Connie Chung
Connie Chung, the first Asian-American to anchor a major nightly news show and only the second woman to ever do so, remains a trailblazer in news broadcasting. With a career that stretches over many decades, Chung had not only a glass ceiling to shatter but also the prejudice of racism to battle that famed peers Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters didn’t face. (“Each time I’d pop my head up, Barbara or Diane would whack me with a spongy hammer,” she writes in her memoir.) In Connie, the journalist and news anchor retraces being a shy, self-conscious child (one of ten siblings) of Chinese parents to becoming someone “full of chutzpah and moxie” and forging a career in broadcasting. The memoir bares all on infamous controversies, like her Oklahoma City Bombing interview to gossipy behind-the-scenes intel on working at CBS with brusque former co-anchor Dan Rather. Against musings on the evolution of women’s progress in the newsroom, Chung delivers an earnest account of her arduous journey paving the way for others.
Runaway Train by Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts might be somewhat eclipsed by the fame of sister Julia and daughter Emma, but he has a history with Hollywood of his own to tell. Runaway Train is the no-holds-bar memoir from Academy Award-nominated actor—with an astounding 700 screen credits to his name, making him one of the most prolific actors—details his long career and complicated relationship with sister Julia (fodder for the tabloids for decades). An affair with Sandy Dennis (and arguments over her animal activism involving countless cats), one debilitating car accident that almost killed him, and a dark dependency on drugs are all accounted for here. Also included is his famous turn in Star 80 (directed by Bob Fosse) and King of the Gypsies (with Sterling Hayden and Shelley Winters), as Roberts’ career bridges old and new Hollywood, plus the silver screen to the small screen.
From Here to the Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley
When Lisa Marie Presley tragically passed in January 2023 aged 54, daughter Riley Keough was left with the manuscript her mother had begun on her memoir. The long-overdue work from Elvis Presley’s only daughter may have been half-written, but Presley left countless confessional recordings as source material to finish the book. Keough would hear wild and heartfelt stories—from smashing up golf carts at Graceland to battling grief in the aftermath of her father’s death—that round out the remaining sections of From Here to the Great Unknown. Time with Scientology, four marriages (one to Michael Jackson) and an opioid addiction are some of the life stories promised on the record in this posthumous memoir. “Few people had the opportunity to know who my mom really was,” Keough has previously said. “I’m so excited to share my mom now, at her most vulnerable and most honest.” A memoir like this may send Presley fans into a reading frenzy—one not seen since Priscilla Presley’s 1985 story, Elvis and Me.
Life in the Key of G by Kenny G
One of the greatest instrumentalists of all time finally reveals “what’s inside the music.” Kenny G, as famous for his curly locks as he is for his soulful saxophoning, details five decades of pushing his distinctive, easy listening sound to the mainstream. The musician started out as a teenager with a passion for the saxophone who was rejected from the school band. Even so, he soon became the lone but talented white guy playing in funk bands across the 1970s and building a small cult following. It was his talent for the soprano saxophone—a high-pitched variation that offers a sweeter feel-good jazz sound—that landed him a gig with R&B legend Barry White (a portent of future success and acclaimed collaborations). Seventy-five million records later, plus famed records like Silhouette and Breathless, cap off one legendary career. Life in the Key of G is as much a chronicle of his life story journey—from Seattle suburbs to the mainstage with Frank Sinatra—as it is an opportunity to philosophize on jazz music and the power of sweet melodies.
We All Shine On: John, Yoko, and Me by Elliot Mintz
If much has been published about the Beatles, seemingly more has been written about John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Still, most writing has had a biographer’s distance, so close friend Elliot Mintz’s memoir, We All Shine On, promises to reveal details of the secretive sanctums and sacred spaces of one over-studied celebrity pairing. Mintz, a radio host when he met the two, became so close he installed a special hotline for Lennon and Ono and talked to one (or the other) almost every day for a decade. Covering the last ten years of Lennon’s life, the memoir recreates private histories shared with Mintz behind closed doors. There are Lennon’s unscripted thoughts on his Beatles compatriots and peers like Bob Dylan, plus new details on the infamous “lost weekend” (the so-called eight months Lennon and Ono were separated). Mintz says it was a memoir he was never to write, only encouraged to do so after talking with the couple’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, at a party in 2023.
Melania: A Memoir by Melania Trump
Much like the former First Lady herself, mystery shrouds the upcoming memoir from Melania Trump. Melania, a release from Skyhorse Publishing (who has also released controversial books by Robert F. Kennedy and Woody Allen), promises to reveal the “powerful and inspiring story of a woman who has carved her own path, overcome adversity and defined personal excellence.” Given Mrs. Trump has largely avoided the campaign trail this year, the book comes at an opportune and intentional time, arriving in late October with revelations that may or may not shake up the November election. The broad strokes moments of her life are well-reported—from her humble Slovenian childhood to a career modeling across Europe and then her fateful meeting with Donald Trump—but the possibility of new admissions from the former First Lady is tantalizing, if unlikely. There will be two versions released: a “Collector’s Edition” ($150) and a “Memoir Edition” ($40).
